Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, we know the tremendous potential of energy production here in America. Recent studies show just how much energy we have available. In fact, by 2020, in the West we could produce as much oil and gas as the U.S. is currently importing from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela, Colombia, Algeria, Nigeria, and Russia combined. The West alone has the potential to produce more than 1.3 million barrels of oil every single day. That's more than our current imports from Russia, Iraq, and Kuwait combined. If we're serious about creating American jobs, serious about lowering energy prices, and breaking our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in energy resources and reserves within our borders.

In North Dakota, we know the potential of oil and natural gas. The last U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the Bakken field held nearly 4 million barrels of recoverable oil; but the new estimates, as the gentleman from South Carolina said, suggest that the

Bakken formation offers at least 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

We produce more than 355,000 barrels of oil each day. We are home to the largest deposit of lignite coal in the world. Our State holds tremendous wind potential as well, and we've attracted thousands of jobs to North Dakota. It is projected by 2020 that jobs in the oil industry will increase by over 16,000. That is a direct result of developing these energy resources in North Dakota. That's a 35 percent increase over 2010 levels.

North Dakota's unemployment is less than 3.5 percent. It's 3.2 percent. In western North Dakota, where Bakken development is taking place, we can't find enough people to work. In that county, unemployment is below 1 percent. Starting wages for people are over $80,000. We need people to help increase this supply of oil.

I just think every day when I'm out here and coming back from North Dakota, imagine what we could do if our whole country had the same approach as we do in North Dakota, the jobs that we could create across this country and the security that we could protect within our country by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. We could reduce our 9.2 percent unemployment rate if we move forward with energy development. We have to get rid of the burdensome regulations which are preventing businesses from creating American jobs.

This is not the time to restrict energy production and prevent jobs from being created. Yet that is exactly what the President's policies have done. In fact, I've kind of joked, if you want to see exactly what not to do to increase the supply and lower the price and reduce the cost of energy for individuals and businesses, small businesses across America, look at what's happening out here in our Nation's Capital.

The President's official moratorium on drilling cost 12,000 jobs. Declining energy production in the Gulf of Mexico is costing the U.S. over $4.7 million a day in lost revenue. Overreaching government regulations continue to hinder energy production in the United States. With thousands of Americans still out of work and prices at the pump remaining high, now is not the time to slow down our energy growth. Now is the time to invest in our own energy resources. We need a long-term, commonsense energy plan like EmPower in North Dakota. We need a plan that will lower energy costs, that will create jobs and break our dependence on foreign oil. We did it in North Dakota. We can do it across America.

We can create good-paying American jobs, we can lower energy prices, and we can break our dependence on foreign oil. It's time to work together to end the overregulation, to encourage energy development, and to work to strengthen America's energy potential.

Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, due to emergency flooding in my home state of North Dakota, I will be unavoidably detained for the remainder of the week (Beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 23). I ask that everyone please join me in keeping these residents who are fighting for their homes and their communities in your thoughts and prayers, and to stand with Minot and other communities up and down the Souris River to ensure a strong recovery.

Mr. Speaker, today the residents of Minot, North Dakota, and the surrounding communities are preparing for a devastating flood that is going to impact their cities. The water levels in the Souris River have never reached the levels that they will reach in the next 24 to 48 hours. Many parts of the city and the surrounding rural areas will be inundated with water as water levels rise above the current levies. More than 10,000 residents have already been evacuated.

In North Dakota, we pull together in challenging times and we support our friends and our communities. The city and people around Minot need to know that, when the water recedes, we will be there to help. We will be there to clean up, and we will be there to rebuild.

I ask everyone to please join me in keeping these residents who are fighting for their homes and their communities in your thoughts and prayers and to stand with Minot and other communities up and down the Souris River to ensure a strong recovery.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on Tuesday, June 14th at 2:33 p.m., and missed rollcall vote No. 419. Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of H. Res. 300.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Dr. Dori Carlson, who will soon be sworn in as the 90th President of the American Optometric Association, the first woman to ever serve in this prestigious position, at their 114th annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 18, 2011.

The American Optometric Association represents approximately 36,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and optometric professionals and is centered on improving the quality and availability of eye and vision care. Doctors of optometry provide two-thirds of all primary eye care in the United States; optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country and in 3,500 of those communities are the only eye doctors.

Dr. Carlson is a 1989 graduate of the Pacific University College of Optometry. Following graduation from optometry school, she completed a residency in hospital-based rehabilitative optometry at the American Lake and Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. In 1994, she was honored as the North Dakota Young Optometrist of the Year and as the Optometrist of the Year in 2003.

She is a founding member of InfantSEE, a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants nationwide. Through this program, great strides are being made to ensure that potential eye and vision problems are detected early. Infant eye assessments have been available in North Dakota since the InfantSEE program launched in 2005, and Dr. Carlson has made it her mission to see as many infants as she can.

Dr. Carlson is in private practice in Park River and Grafton, North Dakota, where she provides primary care to rural North Dakotans of all ages. Her advocacy on behalf of optometrists and their patients has earned her the respect of her colleagues, and it is a high honor to be recognized by her peers to lead the profession of optometry in the coming year.

Today I join her family, friends and colleagues in congratulating her on this achievement and wishing her the best of luck in this endeavor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the countless volunteers who have given time and resources in the wake of unprecedented flooding.

As thousands of North Dakotans fight to protect their homes and communities, North Dakotans have come together to fill sandbags, to help those in need, providing food for volunteers and shelter for those who have been displaced by flooding.

This has truly been a team effort, working together with Senator Conrad and Senator Hoeven, Governor Dalrymple, mayors and Federal officials to ensure that North Dakota receives the vital support to fight this

flood and rebuild as soon as the flood is over.

I commend State and local officials and the North Dakota National Guard for the tremendous work that they have done, working tirelessly to prepare for this flood and quickly responding to those who need help, and most importantly, to the tens of thousands of volunteers who embody North Dakota's spirit and show that in times of hardship that they will pull together and get the job done.

Again, I thank all the volunteers, and our hearts go out to those who are fighting the flood.

Mr. Speaker, every time I talk to North Dakotans, one message is clear: Washington is on an unsustainable path, and it needs change. Out-of-control spending is unacceptable. A rising debt is unacceptable. And allowing this debt to grow without reform is unacceptable.

This country borrows $4 billion a day. Fixing this mess will require real reforms. It requires a serious, honest conversation about where this country stands today and how we want to leave this country for the next generation. It's irresponsible to leave our children with a Nation that has a mountain of debt.

It is unacceptable to increase our debt without making any attempt to reduce it. We cannot continue to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.

I've heard the North Dakota people, and I will not support any debt limit increase that does not contain significant spending cuts and budgetary reforms. It's time to stop the reckless spending. It's time to reduce the size of government. It's time to enact policies that will put America back on track.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to congratulate Brandt Holdings, a Fargo-based company that recently received a Presidential ``E'' Award. The ``E'' Award is the highest award the U.S. Government gives in recognition of an American entity in its relationship to trade.

North Dakota is no stranger to the benefits of trade. In the past year, exports have grown over 15 percent in North Dakota, and since the founding of our trade office 6 years ago, exports have nearly tripled.

Founded in 1992, Brandt Holdings Company has also been on a steady path of growth. With corporate offices in Fargo, North Dakota, the company has diversified and now operates in four divisions: Agriculture, Construction, Real Estate, and an Entertainment division.

I applaud Brandt Holding Company's efforts to increase trade in North Dakota and also for the rest of our country, and I congratulate them on receiving this prestigious award.

Mr. Chairman, my home State of North Dakota is rich in natural resources, and we have seen tremendous economic opportunity from the Bakken field. Through EMPOWER North Dakota, we were able to adopt a long-term energy plan in our State. It encouraged new energy development; and it created high-paying, high-quality jobs in the energy industry. In fact, today our unemployment rate is the lowest in the Nation.

We can have the same success on the national level, but to do so we need a long-term commonsense plan that is a national energy policy that must work to increase America's energy production, lower gas prices, and ultimately break our dependence on foreign oil.

America's families and small businesses are hurting. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon. Energy bills are hindering business growth. National unemployment remains a very high 9 percent. There is enormous potential in the gulf for energy development that can help turn our country's problems around. Our addiction to foreign energy is not sustainable. It threatens our national security. It's time to invest our resources that we have here in the United States. We need to lower energy costs and get Americans back to work.

As a member of the House Energy Action Team and a proud North Dakotan, I'm committed to working hard towards a national long-term energy policy. Let's pass this bill, get the gulf back to work and break our dependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to recognize the 20th anniversary of the God's Child Project, a North Dakota-based program to combat international human trafficking.

Human trafficking is among the largest criminal industries in the world, second only to the illegal drug trade.

It is also the fastest growing, with an estimated 12 million people enslaved worldwide--including many in the United States.

God's Child Project has been providing education, medical care, and other critical aid to children and families around the world since 1991.

For the past 10 years, this non-profit has worked with an affiliate in Guatemala to combat international human trafficking and exploitation.

This month, as the program celebrates its 20th anniversary, I want to commend the good and selfless work being done through God's Child Project.

I am proud that this program has given so much to help the victims of human trafficking, and I'm happy that the program is able to call North Dakota home.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tour overland flood sites in North Dakota. River levels hit record highs, and thousands of North Dakotans volunteered their time and energy to save homes and lives. So today, I would like to recognize the thousands of high school students that helped fill and stack sandbags that protected property and lives. Together, they helped Cass County residents protect their homes as the river rose. Without the help of these young volunteers, many North Dakotans would have been left unprepared for the overland flooding that affected our State.

These students are students that care about their communities. Their dedication exemplifies the spirit that we see in North Dakota and the next generation of leaders. I am pleased that their efforts to protect our communities worked, and I would like to recognize them today.

Mr. Chairman, this bill is a starting point to lowering energy costs. This bill encourages private sector investment and will grow jobs.

North Dakota is a leader in energy development. However, overreaching EPA regulations threaten not only energy producers but consumers as well.

The EPA's efforts to impose a cap-and-trade tax threaten to increase the price of energy for American families. These higher energy costs will also impact small business, threatening them and preventing them from growing the economy and creating jobs.

Our economy is suffering, and heaping more taxes on American families and imposing new regulations that will hurt job creation is not what our country needs to get back on track.

I firmly support the Energy Tax Prevention Act.

Mr. Chair, for eight years, Washington has failed to provide our nation with a long term and stable plan for our aviation infrastructure.

This bill will ensure the much-needed long-term stability and development of our nation's aviation infrastructure.

However, I'm incredibly concerned about the provision in this bill that would phase out Essential Air Service support.

EAS is critical in large states like my own. Rural regions rely on EAS support for vital air transportation. In North Dakota, airports like those in Jamestown and Devils Lake would not be able to provide critical air service without EAS support.

I've talked with North Dakotans, and I know how much they rely on access to air service. Numerous North Dakotans depend on air travel as an essential part of their jobs, and for many rural residents, driving in bad North Dakota weather to get to a larger airport simply isn't viable.

Eliminating EAS would have a significant, detrimental effect on my state and on North Dakotans' access to air service.

As we prioritize spending, we also must promote economic development and job creation. In areas like North Dakota, maintaining essential air service is critical for commerce--we want businesses to invest in our cities.

A Goodrich plant in Jamestown employs nearly 500 North Dakotans. They rely on local air service to do business--air service that would not be possible if essential air service support was phased out.

We can't ask companies to invest in our state if we are unable to provide the basic infrastructure necessary for them to be competitive and do business.

I've spoken with Congressman Mica and with the Transportation committee and I understand the need for this process to keep moving forward.

This bill contains many good provisions that I support. It will expand research and development for remotely piloted aircraft, a growing field that holds enormous potential not only for our nation's military, but also our academic institutions and farmers and border security.

North Dakota has established itself as a leader in the development and research of remotely piloted aircraft technology, and I'm confident that the creation of new test sites will benefit this technology's continued success in our state.

But while I support these things, I also know how vital rural access to essential aviation is. That's why, before it is sent to the President, it is critical that the final version of this bill maintains EAS support.

So I ask the gentleman from Florida if he will commit to working with me and other concerned members to support the EAS program and maintain critical rural air service.

Today I would like to recognize the 10th anniversary of Microsoft having invested in Fargo, North Dakota. Since coming to North Dakota, Microsoft has helped to create hundreds of jobs, and it's increased the economic opportunity in our State.

Ten years ago tomorrow, Microsoft acquired Great Plains Software in Fargo, a local homegrown company. At the time, Great Plains employed 800 people. Today, there are more than 1,500 people working in Fargo for Microsoft. And the Microsoft campus continues to grow. In fact today, there are more than 60 open positions at Microsoft looking for people.

This is what our country needs throughout all the States. I am pleased that companies like Microsoft have felt confident in investing in our State and our people.

Congratulations to Fargo Microsoft employees on your 10-year anniversary, and thank you for the positive work you've done for the Fargo community.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 210, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''